Last time I was in Colchester I was a teenager, now I'm a mum of two and freelance journalist fresh from the streets of Hackney, trying to rediscover my roots. Or something.

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Packed lunches 80s-style

It's not something we have to worry about until next year, but seeing photos of two of my nephews on their first day at school, as well as various children of friends, made me remember my first day back in the (very) early Eighties.

Leaving aside the whole "you aren't actually registered with a class because your mum sent you to this school despite being told not to as you aren't in the catchment area, so when the whole year gets their name called out and moves one by one to their designated teacher you will be left sitting alone in the gym" scenario (it wasn't traumatic, mum, I only put two and two together about 20 years later) there was also the "homes, dinners, sandwiches" register.

Basically, once it was established each child was present and correct every morning, our school read out everybody's name again, and you had to reply "dinners" if you were having school dinners, "sandwiches" if you had brought a packed lunch, and "homes" if your mum was picking you up to feed you lunch at home. The roll call on the first day went something like: "Alison Abberton?" "Sandwiches." "HackneyHackette?" "Dinners." "Nicholas Brown?" "Sausages." "Sorry? " "Sausages." "No, Nicholas, you have to say sandwiches, dinners or homes." "But I don't have sandwiches. I have sausages." He did as well.

I never did get why they put 'sandwiches' instead of 'packed lunch'. Mum used to send me to school with cold pizza or pasta and I hid it because I thought it wasn't allowed. Took until Year 2 for a dinner lady to notice :(

I am sorry to hear of your pizza/ pasta thing, it just goes to show children understand words in ways adults don't even think about. In my school the uber-lunch which cool children had was: white pre-cut bread sandwiches, probably ham, Dairylea acceptable, egg definitely a no-no; Walkers crisps; a Penguin and a Capri-Sun. Mine was more likely to be: doorstep sandwich; possibly a small pot of salad; Happer Shopper corn-based crisp things; flask of warm squash, Club biscuit. Sometimes I too had sausages, or cold chicken.